The other nite I was out with my female Belle and she treed a coon in a tree in which I shot her 1st "kill" season coon out to her in. That doesn't happen around here a whole lot and it got me to thinking and lookin at some old pictures.

I went coon hunting for my 1st time 22 years ago when I was 4 or 5 years old with my grandpa and I was hooked ever since! I never had my own dogs and it was always a dream until these 2 came along a little over 3 years ago. I wanted to wait until I had the time, money, and age to "do it right". Or atleast give my dogs the best shot! lol.

I've had my two littermate dogs Beau and Belle goin on 4 years now and have had them since they were pups at 5 months old. They aren't out of anything particularly special, just coon dogs. I remember training them when they were young in the snow this time of year. I looked up this picture...

I thought of how much I have learned not only from fellow coonhunters and friends, but my dogs as well. All the way from pleasure hunting to world hunts across states I'd prolly never spend time in much if it weren't for my dogs. I have won at hunts I would've never DREAMED I would've won when I got my own dogs! I have also made some really great friends along the way and have been treated well by men I have never met in person before!

All on account of dogs and this AWESOME sport!
My dogs and I have made it a long way and I am HAPPY with what I got and put into them! Both will tree a coon any nite on their own, or with company and make it FUN every nite! Tonight I hunted the 1st place I ever went.

I hunted their for 4 hours tonight. Almost 10 miles on the dog and over 5 on me! lol Only treed 2 coon, but had a heck of a time doing it! Along the way I just thought, "WOW, look how far they have came?!?!"

I ended up keeping 2 pups from this litter. They just turned 7 months old last Thursday and have been hitting the timber since 10 weeks old! They are showing a lot of interest in the woods and I look forward to getting them going! They just have a little bit of growing up to do! All of the other pups from the litter are showing promise as well!

This is Mary

This is White Stuff

I had them at the vet for a check up last week and Mary weighed in at 66lb. and White weighed in at 56lb! I can remember the last time I had them there at 7 weeks old and they weighed right around 12lb.!

Joe..your post brought tears to my eyes. I can feel your joy and your love for the sport and your hounds. I've commented on your pictures on facebook before but I'll tell ya again..I love those two pups you kept!! Keep em treed and enjoy hearing updates! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story. I hope one day I have something equally awesome to tell. 3 years in I just got my own coondog that I've trained so we shall see what happens :-) Good luck to you in future hunts!!!

You're fortunate that you still have the pair of hounds that you started out with, that's awesome!!

Kellie and I started out 5 years ago this summer. We've went through several dogs before finding a few good ones, but we've met countless friends during the process! Here are a few pics of our early days...

My first dog, Gem. I raised her from a 6 week old pup. She'd run and tree a coon, but just a true pleasure dog. Kept her till she turned 4, now she's making some bear hunters happy. This pic is one of hers, and my, first training sessions. lol.

This is our first pair of Plotts, Jack and Boone, they were littermates. Called 'em the bash brothers lol. They are now bear dogs in Wisconsin.

I'm sure some will recognize the fellas in this pic, lol. If not, and ya need a clue, they're twins. lol.

Jebb, my first coondog. Ahhh, where would I be without him? He taught me so much about what a coondog should be. Also got me a good start in the hunts. This is a pic of him on one of the first trees we made with him soon after we got him.

Dawn, Kellie's first coondog. It's unbelieveable how many people we've met through this dog, and all the doors that she has opened for Kellie. They're an inseperable team. This pic is also of their early days together. Or should I say nights. lol.

I figured I'd also post Kellie's success with her Rebel dog. She raised her up from a small puppy and now she's coondog through and through. Such an accomplishment (in my opinion) to raise a dog from a pup and see it figure everything out and watch it grow into a coondog.

quote:Originally posted by Ringer3 Kennels Joe..your post brought tears to my eyes. I can feel your joy and your love for the sport and your hounds. I've commented on your pictures on facebook before but I'll tell ya again..I love those two pups you kept!! Keep em treed and enjoy hearing updates! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story. I hope one day I have something equally awesome to tell. 3 years in I just got my own coondog that I've trained so we shall see what happens :-) Good luck to you in future hunts!!!

Danielle,

It's really cool to have people like you, your sister, Wes and all of his friends who hunt around! I come to Ohio to hunt so much because there aren't as many young people like us who hunt as hard as we do around my parts! I enjoy sharing the stories at the hunts and posting about the hounds to each other over the net! It's really cool to have people the same age to compete against, but also share the stories and experiences with! I hope we can bring more young people into the sport and revitalize it! Let's work as a team to show the younger generation that getting your own hound and training it to become a true coondog from start to finish can be done with a solid committment of time and patience! Let's keep this thing going and hopefully someday one of us young'ins can make it to the winner's circle at the BIG DANCE!

Take care and the best of luck to you at the zones with mister this weekend!!!